Airless, high-pressure spraying devices generally consist of a nozzle, guard, housing, self-cleaning rotatable turret having an orifice, and a pistol grip trigger to control the on-off spray
The nozzle portion contains the turret having an orifice tip or metal insert with a small bore, typically in the range of 0.010 inches. The housing and guard can typically be formed from plastic. The guard functions to keep the high-pressure fluid spray from hitting any body parts at close range. Self-cleaning of the orifice is accomplished by 180.degree. rotation of the turret, so that fluid flow is reversed to dislodge any particulates that may be clogging the orifice.
It is often necessary to change tips to provide for a heavier or finer spray pattern. The finer spray pattern is necessary for finish or detail work.
There are various means of cleaning and exchanging orifice sizes in the art. Exemplary are:
U.S. Pat. No. 3,414,196 by Legeza discloses a self-cleaning spray gun tip having a vertical multiple-orifice slide that can be vertically removed, reversed, and reinserted in the spray gun to clean either of the clogged orifices. PA1 U.S. Pat. No. 3,088,679 by Ford discloses an aspirating sprayer having a multiple-orifice turret type selection device in a first embodiment. In a second embodiment, the orifice selection device is a linear slide. Third and fourth embodiments show a single orifice nozzle. PA1 U.S. Pat. No. 2,140,903 by Fisk discloses a low-pressure spraying nozzle that in a first embodiment issues a whirling spray through orifices and exits through an opening. Cleaning is performed by rotating a cylinder to cleaning positions. A second embodiment is shown having three selectable discharge orifices in the casing.
There are many other spray guns that include reversible tips that allow cleaning of the orifice, but none of the above have a simple vertically oriented cylinder having more than one orifice and can be also easily rotated for cleaning.
It is the purpose of this invention to provide a simpler, multi-orifice spray tip having the reversible orifice cleaning capability and an open-faced, non-drip tip guard. This invention allows the user to change spray tip sizes without going through the process of changing orifice tip holders, in this case, the vertical cylinder or turret.